By RICARDO CASTILLO

Electoral Fraud at the INE?

On Friday, Feb. 7, the 11 councilors of Mexico’s National Electoral Institute (INE) carried out the reelection of its executive secretary to serve for six more years, with eight votes in favor and three against.

The reaction in Mexico to the surprise reelection of Jacobo Molina and against INE president Lorenzo Córdova has gone viral for and against since four of the councilors of the INE will finish their terms and be renewed in two more months.

Some people support the election, claiming the “early coup” carried out by Córdova is the right way to prevent the newly selected councilors from being appointed by the Chambers of Deputies and Senate.

Now, the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) political party, will tilt the balance at the INE.

Others, such as councilor José Roberto Ruiz Saldaña, claim that Córdova acted too fast and too soon, and that the election of the executive secretary should be made by the newly elected councilors.

These people believe that Córdova committed “electoral fraud” by imposing Molina in order to in control of the vote at the INE.

(Read all about it in a complete article in Pulse News Mexico on Thursday, Feb 13.)

Corruption Money Recovered

Fiscal General Alejandro Gertz Manero delivered a 2-billion peso check to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) this week.

The money was recovered from several arrests of drug traffickers and kidnappers, as well as from white collar government corruption cases.

Without giving specifics as to the cases, Gertz Manero said: “Mexico’s heritage and the deeds of the nation have been sacked, and that’s why we must combat crime. That’s why we have initiated a set of legal actions in order to recover what belongs to the nation. And, today, we can announce that we are delivering a 2-billion peso check to the Institute to Return to the People What Was Stolen from Them.”

Previously, AMLO announced that “never in history had money from corruption been recovered.”

“We are treading on unknown territory,” he added.

Five Extraditions

Mexico’s Fiscal General’s office reported that five alleged Mexican criminals wanted in the United States had been extradited over the weekend in compliance with bilateral agreements for the exchange of criminals.

The most notorious of the extradited criminals was one of the most wanted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Apolinar Dagio Huerta, aka, Poly, whose arrest warrant in the United States was issued by the Santa Clara, California, court to be tried for homicide, kidnapping, criminal association and drug trafficking.

A second criminal sent back was Jesús Contreras Arceo, accused of being a top leader of the criminal gang Jalisco New Generation Cartel, accused of transporting drugs into the United States, as well as money laundering.

His extradition request was issued by the Federal Court of the East Virginia District.

Also on the list was Ramón Moreno Madrigal of the Michoacán Family gang, for the murder of a border patrol agent near Nogales, Arizona.

His warrant was issue by the North Carolina Federal Court.

Another alleged culprit was Jesús Rosario Favela Astorga, also charged with the killing of a border patrol agent.

He was wanted for first- and second-degree murder on Dec. 14, 2010, when several patrolmen exchanged live fire with a group of suspected drug smugglers, also near Nogales.

The fifth extradition was  of a man named Peter A., wanted in California for murder and illegal entry into a home.

IMEF Proposes Tax Cut

In order to get Mexico’s stagnant economy back on track, the Mexican Institute of Finance Executives (IMEF) will soon present a tax cut plan to AMLO, a set of 15 measures intended to both entice investment and promote social growth.

At the top of the proposition list, IMEF President Ángel García-Lascuráin said that his organization will suggest to AMLO an income tax cut from 30 down to 23 percent, as well as changing the current value added tax of 16 percent general to the entire nation, with the exception of charging it on the staple foods basket in order to not hurt the economies of lower income families.

IMEF members feel that such a move would lift now-lagging private investment since their ideas are also part of a social development vision with business participation, not just in for-profit, but also to bring benefits to Mexican society at large.

At a press conference on Monday, Feb. 10, the president of the IMEF economic studies section, Gabriel Casillas, said the president has already been notified by the IMEF and is willing to look into their proposals.

AMLO Inspects New Airport

AMLO visited the new Felipe Angeles International Airport at Santa Lucía in the State of Mexico, just north of Mexico City, on Monday, Feb. 10.

The president inspected the construction of various areas of the airport, such as the takeoff-landing strips, the passenger terminal (which will have a capacity for 19.5 million travelers a year),and the control towers.

At the end of the tour, AMLO posted a comment on Twitter, bashing his critics and detractors who condemned him for having cancelled the “pharaonic” airport known as the New International Mexico Airport (NAIM) in Texcoco dry lakebed east of the capital.

“At Texcoco, it was all mud,” AMLO said.

“At Santa Lucía, there is solid ground. The quality of the new airport is guaranteed.”